GOVERNING  BODY

I have answered a great number of questions about the redevelopment of the Fort Monmouth property over the past two months, so I thought it would be a good idea to provide everybody with the facts about the proposed residential development on the site.

The Fort Monmouth property covers just over 1100 acres in three different municipalities (Tinton Falls, Eatontown and Oceanport). The Oceanport section of Fort Monmouth is comprised of 419 acres. Approximately 85 acres are going to be dedicated to residential development, 188 acres are going to be dedicated to commercial development (office space, hi-tech space, warehousing, restaurants, schools, retail space) and 146 acres are going to be dedicated to open space (parks, roadways, greenspace, waterways, etc..) upon full build out.

Pursuant to the Fort Monmouth Reuse and Redevelopment Plan (which can be viewed on FMERA’s website), there seven separate residential sites within Oceanport’s section of the Fort.  These seven sections take up about 85 acres and are now known as follows: The Lodging District, Barker Circle, the 400 Area, RPM North, RPM South, Acute Care, and the Nurse’s Quarters.

The Lodging District, about 15 acres, is slated to have 180 residential units built on it. 143 of these units are to be high-end townhomes for sale, priced anywhere from $700,000 to $900,000, and 37 additional units are slated (as required by law) to be affordable housing units, which will be rentals. The affordable housing units will be housed in two existing buildings on the site that cannot be knocked down because they are within the historic district.

Barker Circle, about 19.5 acres in total, has about seven acres dedicated to residential housing, six acres dedicated to commercial development and 6.5 acres dedicated to open space. It is proposed that 75 residential units will be built there. 60 residential units will be high-end market rentals and 15 residential units will be set aside for affordable housing, as is required by law.

RPM North (the old officer’s housing) is comprised of 22.5 acres, 17 of which has residential housing on it and 5 of which is open space. RPM North has 68 for sale residential units on it. All units sold to date have been sold for amounts far in excess of their projected sale price and/or assessed value. You can go look at these units and view the development at any time.

RPM South (the old non-com quarters) is about nine acres in size and is comprised of 48 rental units, 24 of which are dedicated to affordable housing as required by law. You can look at these and view the development at any time. 

Acute Care is where the Beacon of Life Facility is currently located. It is the site of the old hospital. The residential buildout calls for 81 total units on the three-acre site. These 81 units are pretty much completed, and you can go look at the development at any time. These units are designed to compliment the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) offered by Beacon of Life. PACE is a Medicare and Medicaid program that provides elderly citizens the option of meeting their health care needs in their community instead of going to a nursing home or other care facility.

The Nurse’s Quarters are located on 3.5 acres of land just off of Main Street and are projected to have 35 residential units, seven of which will have to be affordable housing units as required by law. 

The final property designated for residential development is the 400 Area. This is the property located on your right as you drive on Oceanport Avenue towards Little Silver. The 400 Area is just under 80 acres in size. 25 acres are going to be designated for residential use, 25 acres are proposed to be used for commercial/mixed use, and 30 acres will be dedicated to open space. All existing buildings on this property are to be demolished.

The 400 Area is slated for up to 233 residential units within the 25 acres allotted for residential development, of which 20% have to be affordable housing units. Despite what you may have heard, there is no plan (or money) to move the Little Silver Train Station to this site. That proposal was shot down a DECADE ago. Instead, what is proposed is a “transit village” type development allowing for easy access to the Little Silver Train Station.

Sorry for the dry nature of this message, but these are facts everybody should know. Even Buddy Brocklebank.

We had a fabulous summer here in Oceanport and it was
closed out by another incredible Summer’s End event at
Blackberry Bay Park. Once again, Oceanport’s Parks &
Recreation Committee put together a perfect evening for all of
us to enjoy and the closing fireworks display was, as usual,
second to none. We owe a debt of gratitude to the paid staff and
volunteers who put this event together every year. It is a town
wide celebration of all that is wonderful about Oceanport.

One of the other wonderful things about Oceanport is our
commitment to helping others and the Kortney’s Challenge 2
Mile Fun Run/Walk at Monmouth Park on August 4th was
Oceanport at its finest. With over 650 people participating in the
race and hundreds more volunteering and participating in the
fund-raising portion of the event, this year’s Challenge met its
goal of raising $100,000.00 for research and education
related to the treatment of pediatric brain and central nervous
system tumors. Kudos to Oceanport, the Kortney Rose
Foundation, the Gillette family and everybody who volunteered
or participated in this event.

Looking ahead, as most of you are aware, the Borough of
Oceanport is relocating its Municipal Complex to a 13.25-acre
parcel of land on the old Fort Monmouth property located just
off Main Street by the Razor Drive entrance to the Fort.
Demolition work has begun on certain of the buildings there
and the renovation of the remaining buildings will begin shortly
thereafter. When the project is complete (we hope to be done by
the third quarter of 2020), our police station will be moved from
its current site at the old Fort Monmouth firehouse to the former
State Police building and next door to that will be our
Municipal Building. The new Municipal Building will house
Oceanport’s Municipal Court, our Department of Municipal
Works office and all the municipal services currently located
315 East Main Street. The Department of Public Works’
maintenance building and yard are already located at the site.
All in all, the new complex will allow for “one stop shopping”
for our citizens when completed.

Recreation soccer has started up again at Blackberry Bay
Park and that means we need to be reminded that the speed
limit on Port-Au-Peck by Blackberry Bay is 25 miles an hour,
not 150 miles an hour. In fact, the top speed limit on ALL but
three of the municipality’s streets is 25 miles an hour (Main
Street, Port-Au-Peck past Branchport and Crescent being the
three exceptions), so please slow down when you are driving
through Oceanport. I know that this is a constant theme in my
messages, but speeding is a constant problem in our town.

Longtime Oceanport Rick McKenna recently stepped
down as a member of the Shore Regional High School Board.
Rick has been one of the most dedicated volunteers this town
has ever known, and he has represented Oceanport well on
both the Shore Regional and Oceanport Boards of Education
over the past two decades. Oceanport is going to miss him,
and we need more people like him to step forward and volunteer
their time. Finally, I’d like to extend a belated Happy
Birthday to Oceanport Mayor Emeritus Clem Sommers, who
celebrated his 90th birthday with his family and friends in
August, but he still isn’t as old as Buddy Brocklebank.

The first weekend in May was a very “Oceanport” weekend, indeed. Although the Oceanport Recreation Committee’s annual miniature golf outing at Bluegrass Mini Golf in Monmouth Park Racetrack was postponed due to the inclement weather on Friday night, our little slice of heaven was chock full of activity all weekend. Saturday morning opened with the Maple Place Middle School’s Annual Color Run at Blackberry Bay Park. I can tell you that the kids in Oceanport have no problem walking up to the town’s Mayor and dumping bags of colored flour on his head. No problem whatsoever. None. I know who they are, however, and you can rest assured they won’t be getting any calls while I am refereeing their basketball games next year. This fun run’s purpose is to raise money for the 8th grade’s class trip to Washington, D.C., but with its mix of kids, adults, music, exercise and dedicated volunteers, it’s actually an incredibly colorful, somewhat messy, 3.2 mile celebration of all that is wonderful about Oceanport.

Shortly after the Color Run ended, Monmouth Park Racetrack opened on its doors and 21,500 people walked through the gates. They were treated to a warm, sunny (thank you Buzzy Baldanza, Oceanport’s Weather Maker) opening day of great live racing, family picnics, hot dogs, hamburgers, horribly gaudy men’s sport jackets and mis-matching pants, women’s Derby hats ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime and the most bizarre, prolonged and confusing finish in Kentucky Derby history. While all of that was going on, the 2019 Monmouth Park Charity Fund’s Kentucky Derby Celebration was honoring Oceanport’s own Maureen Lloyd for her 20 years of service to the organization. The charity event was packed to the rafters, just like the rest of Monmouth Park. Afterwards, local restaurants were bursting at the seams with patrons as the day’s celebrations spilled over into the night. The last night of Triumphant Life Church’s week long Spring Carnival at Fort Monmouth closed out this very busy Oceanport Saturday and, although it was very successful, we hope that Buzzy Baldanza can arrange for better weather at next year’s carnival!

A special note of thanks goes out to Oceanport’s police department, DPW and First Aid Squad, all of which played an integral part of the success of these events. Each of these Oceanport celebrations went off without a hitch, and the support and assistance of these individuals made that possible.

On Sunday, moreover, I had the privilege and honor of participating in the Eagle Scout induction ceremony at the Oceanport Hook and Ladder building. Two fantastic young men, Christopher Schuff and Jack Donohoe, became Oceanport’s 109th and 110th Eagle Scouts. They join Gerald R. Ford, Neil Armstrong, Steven Spielberg, Michael Bloomberg and Oceanport Councilman Ricky Gallo as internationally known individuals who have earned the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouts of America. This is no small accomplishment for these two boys and Oceanport is blessed to have such an inordinate amount of Eagle Scouts in a town so small. Fun Fact: Arthur Eldred was the first Eagle Scout and he was awarded this honor in 1912. There is no truth to the rumor, however, that he was Buddy Brocklebank’s classmate.

This past weekend is proof that Oceanport is alive, well and - as it says on our logo - “a great place to live.” Our volunteers are always energized, our professional and volunteer emergency services providers are knowledgeable, dedicated, and caring and, our community is filled with people who love to be involved and make a difference. The vibrancy of Monmouth Park Racetrack this weekend bodes well for the summer and our spring looks exciting, too. Oceanport will be hosting the Oceanport Lion’s Club’s Strawberry Festival from May 29th to June 2nd, the Memorial Day Weekend Jersey Shore Food Truck Festival at Monmouth Park, Oceanport’s Memorial Day Parade on the morning of Memorial Day and TWO car shows in June at Fort Monmouth (Sunday, June 9th at Wallington Avenue and Saturday, June 15th at Malterer Avenue).  Please get out of your house, get involved and enjoy all that Oceanport has to offer!

Honorable Jay Coffey
Mayor, Oceanport Borough, NJ